In the advanced manufacturing sector of industrial machine tool and lasers, high-end equipment has long been dominated by imported equipment, and has been listed as a "strategic imperative area for accelerating breakthroughs" by the country. Danzao town in Nanhai District will take the lead and achieve breakthroughs in this field, practicing the leadership of the manufacturing industry.

On March 17, OPMT signed a contract with Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to build a joint laboratory for ultrafast laser processing, focus on high-end "industrial machines" and advanced laser manufacturing, commit to building a national brand of laser based industrial machines, and rank first in the global CNC industry.

OPMT, located in Danzao Town, is a "specialized, refined, and innovative" enterprise in Guangdong Province that has achieved rapid development since its establishment in 2015. In the field of micro nano processing of superhard material, the market share of self-developed laser five axis CNC machine tools is among the top three in China. At the same time, the orderly implementation of the company's IPO this year, coupled with the rapid progress of the two major projects of intelligent green factories and full business process digitization, will significantly enhance its leading advantage in the domestic laser micro/nano processing field.

Ningbo Institute of Materials of CAS is the first scientific research institution of CAS in Zhejiang Province, which has laid out four major fields of material technology, advanced manufacturing, new energy and biomedical engineering around "material research". After more than a decade of efforts, a scientific layout has gradually been formed where the material application chain, scientific research technology chain, and talent cultivation and introduction chain complement each other, and the "three chains are integrated". It has become an important research base and technology provider in new materials and related fields. 

The cooperation prospects between manufacturing enterprises and scientific and technological innovation platforms are infinite. The two sides cooperated to jointly build a joint laboratory for ultra fast laser processing, and carried out research around the "choke" problems such as low processing efficiency and extremely complex processing technology of high-performance difficult to process materials such as superhard material, hard alloys and ceramics, so as to improve the international competitiveness of domestic multi axis linkage precision laser processing machines and achieve "import substitution".

On the day of signing the contract, the first laser precision processing and intelligent manufacturing forum was held. Li Lin, an academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Yuan Julong, a senior professor of Zhejiang University of Technology, and other intelligent manufacturing experts and scholars gathered to focus on the basic research, industrial application scenarios, and industrial chain configuration of advanced laser manufacturing, and discuss the road of information creation and the road to power from multiple dimensions such as technological breakthrough, industrial development, and industry university research collaboration.

The construction of laboratories in enterprise workshops reflects the importance that Danzao Town attaches to technological innovation in promoting the path of leading the manufacturing industry. In recent years, the phenomenon of scientific and technological innovation in Danzao has been very distinct. As a western town in the South China Sea, Danzao has 480 high-tech enterprises in 2022, ranking first in the region in terms of increment and total volume; The number of academician projects in Danzao has reached 23, making it the town with the most concentrated academician projects in Foshan; In 2022, the R&D investment of designated enterprises in Danzao Town reached 930 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 230 million yuan and 32.3%.

Wang Yong, the mayor of Nanhai District, participated in the signing event. He stated that the South China Sea has the background, heritage, and spirit of being a leader in the manufacturing industry, the strength, practical skills, and effectiveness of innovative consortia, and the environment, mood, and artistic conception of a blessed place for scientists. The entire region will further create a good atmosphere of "scientists+entrepreneurs", and fully support the innovation work of enterprises in terms of development space, financial strength, administrative services, government communication, and other aspects.

This article is sourced from reporter Mao Lei, correspondent Zhang Bolin of Foshan Daily